The old centre of Lucca is surrounded by a 4 kilometre medieval wall that is still intact. It was busy with joggers, cyclists, and people arm in arm enjoying the sunny weather. Each side of the rectangular wall has a different variety of tree. From the wall which stands about 12 metres high, we could look down over the old city and see the surrounding hills in the distance covered with snow.
Lucca was originally settled by Ligurians then Etruscans and became a Roman city in 180 BC. The streets were set out in typical Roman style with lots of piazzas or squares with narrow streets radiating from them. It was so peaceful after Pisa as there were no vehicles in the central area. There were no tourists and not many locals in the squares.
There was once an old Roman amphitheatre but it has been filled in and its shape could be seen from the buildings still surrounding the area in the Amphitheatre Piazza.
We climbed to the top of the oldest clock tower, Torre delle ore, and it had several olive trees growing on the roof. We had a great view of the layout of the city and at one time there were 200 towers in the city but now only a couple remain.
Giacomo Puccini, famous for Madame Butterfly and La Boheme operas, was born in Lucca and his house is still here. Every summer there is a Puccini festival in Lucca.
We saw several basilica and they were all having some kind of restoration work done on them.
